Profile




Tawatha T. Elguero

Based in Oslo, Norway.

Contact: collab.tawatha@proton.me

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 I create research-led visuals that make biological structures, ecological relationships, and environmental processes clear and engaging. 

I work with researchers, conservationists, and environmental organisations to translate scientific knowledge into visual narratives that support the understanding, restoration, and protection of ecosystems and nature.




Background
My background combines self-directed study with formal training in scientific illustration through specialised courses, and the Illustraciencia Academy. I have worked with students, researchers, and environmental organisations, including the Roots & Shoots educational program of the Jane Goodall Institute in Spain.

Since 2018, I have been active in citizen science, contributing species observations across Europe through iNaturalist and supporting research projects through Zooniverse. I am also a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and DNT: The Norwegian Trekking Association.
Testimonials
“Ms. Elguero’s work is always carried out with great professionalism, commitment, attention to detail, talent, and care, which is evident in the final results.”

Marisa Mariñán, Coordinator of Roots & Shoots, Jane Goodall Institute Spain

”As a primatologist and researcher, I deeply value Tawatha’s work and perspective as a scientific illustrator. She has a remarkable ability to combine scientific rigor with artistic sensitivity, creating illustrations that are not only beautiful, but also meaningful and highly effective for science communication. Over the years, I have always been impressed by her professionalism, curiosity, and genuine passion for nature and science. I specially appreciate people capable of building such a strong bridge between art and science.” 

Dr. Miquel Llorente

Director, Master’s Degree in Scientific Illustration in Natural Sciences, Universitat de Girona

Director, Master’s Degree in Primatology, Universitat de Barcelona

“I came across Tawatha’s work by chance, and it was an amazing find. I needed highly specific hyperrealistic illustrations for a scientific article, and the result exceeded all my expectations. Even though the subjects were almost indistinguishable from one another, she captured each individual’s uniqueness perfectly while staying in close contact with me throughout the process for feedback. She was an abdolute pleasure to work with.”

Carla Pascual, Primatologist, UdG (Universidad de Girona)
Skills
Visual Communication
Scientific Illustration
Graphics
Research & Information Synthesis
Ecological Storytelling
Field Observation
Creativity and Innovation
Software
Adobe Creative Suite
QGIS
Blender

Tawatha T. Elguero       Scientific Illustration Visual Communication


Making the  
Invisible Visible


Revealing the structures, processes, and relationships
of the natural world through scientific illustration, and
visual communication.


Field Notes Blog

CS-3

Lu Hsin 
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Information design · June, 2023


Created for a landscape architecture master’s thesis on an ethnobotanical garden in Taiwan. The infographic translates Taiwan’s natural forest vegetation into a visual system structured by altitude, temperature and humidity.


Lu Hsin · AHO 
Vegetation Zones
Information design
Master’s thesis
Taiwan | Oslo
August, 2023

Reviewed by:
Chih-Chieh Yu (游旨价)
Naturalist & plant biologist


Context

This infographic was requested by Lu Hsin, a landscape architect, during her final master’s thesis on an ethnobotanical garden in Taiwan at AHO – The Oslo School of Architecture and Design.

It shows the vegetation zones of Taiwan’s natural forests along gradients of altitude, temperature, and humidity. It explains how Taiwan’s forests change from lowland tropical and subtropical forests near sea level, through montane evergreen and conifer forests, and up to the subalpine and alpine vegetation found near the island’s highest peaks, such as Xueshan, 3,886 m.

Some captions from the location on-site:

A gorgeous high-elevation alpine pond called Cuei Pond / 翠池, surrounded by Taiwan fir — Abies kawakamii and 
Taiwan alpine juniper — Juniperus squamata. ©Lu Hsin


Research & Development


I was given an older scientific vegetation chart of Taiwan, which organised forest communities by altitude and differences between wetter and drier slopes. 


This diagram illustrates the elevation zones of vegetation in the mountains of central Taiwan. Online reference only. Original publication not directly accessed; source credited here: Ref.


I then introduced the logic of a bioclimatic classification chart to relate vegetation more clearly to temperature and moisture. 

Holdridge Life Zone Classification diagram by Peter Halasz,via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Ref.1 , Ref.2


The old Taiwan vegetation chart gave me the local scientific information: the real forest zones of Taiwan, their altitude ranges, humidity differences, and characteristic species. The bioclimatic triangle gave me the visual and conceptual structure: a way to show vegetation as the result of climate gradients — warmer to colder, wetter to drier, and lowland to alpine.

I used this idea to make the final graph feel more like an ecological landscape.




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